


The Organization’s blades

by Magicspacedragon



Series: So much to hold onto [2]
Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Aqua & Terra & Ventus Are Family (Kingdom Hearts), Disney characters to be tagged when they appear, I love 358/2 days, Lonely Naminé (Kingdom Hearts), Riku Is Bad at Feelings (Kingdom Hearts), Riku’s downward spiral, Ven is trying, more tags to be added later, she draws a lot tho
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-14 23:41:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28803693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magicspacedragon/pseuds/Magicspacedragon
Summary: After their one day off, the organization sets to work, investigating the mysterious fake, the rumors of other keyblade users, and of course, working on completing Kingdom Hearts.Meanwhile, Roxas and Xion both become increasingly suspicious and confused about their roles, Axel needs to choose, Ven is increasingly worried, and all the cards will fall into play.Part 2 of my ongoing AU fic series, check out part one, “Early Awakening”
Relationships: Aqua & Naminé (Kingdom Hearts), Axel & Roxas & Xion (Kingdom Hearts), Axel & Roxas (Kingdom Hearts), Axel & Saïx (Kingdom Hearts), Axel & Xion (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi & Riku & Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi & Riku (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi & Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi/Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Naminé & Ventus (Kingdom Hearts), Naminé & Xion (Kingdom Hearts), Roxas & Xion (Kingdom Hearts), Ventus & Xion (Kingdom Hearts)
Series: So much to hold onto [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2066334
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	1. To fight

**Author's Note:**

> Make sure you read part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Several scenes from one day.

It was definitely a problem that Kairi’s first instinct in fights was to run away, but Della, her ever persistent helper, told her she could turn it into a strength with enough practice, how she could do that, she didn’t know. The good thing was that weak heartless were all over the world they were in, and they made great fighting practice.

Taking her rapier, Kairi thrusted forward, creating a small diagonal arc with her blade at a heartless, then, quickly jumped away as a second heartless jumped at her side, spinning around, she managed to sloppily skewer it on her sword. Della started clapping.

“Good girl! See I told you you’d figure out your own way to fight,” the duck said. She jumped down from her position on their ship’s wing.

“Still feels weird though…” Kairi mumbled.

“You’ll get better, fighting’s hard,” Della commented. “You can keep practicing while we look for the boys.” Della waved for Kairi to follow her inside the gummi ship. 

“Alright…” Kairi followed behind her. 

  
  
  


Naminé sat quietly watching the people of twilight town go about their day. She watched them with a little bit of amazement, and envy. She didn’t want to be envious, it was amazing for her to even be sitting here, but she was nonetheless.

Aqua was the reason she was here, sitting in the outside seating of the Twilight Town Sunset Café. She had insisted that Naminé needed to spend more time outside, and had suggested she go someplace to draw. When Naminé found the sequestered seating of the Sunset Café, she knew she found the spot. From her spot, she could see the Clocktower in the distance, but she could also see people. 

Tons of people passed by Naminé’s little spot, kids running around, teens going to the market, adults hurrying off to work, she saw them all pass by her. Sometimes, when she was feeling adventurous, she would wave to them as they passed by, and, sometimes, they waved back. Even without the interaction, she still loved watching them pass by.

She knew it was foolish to wish it would never end, but she did anyway.

“Um, hello Miss!” The voice of one of the servers sounded out. Naminé turned around to see a shortish kid around her age, he was round with kind eyes, fluffy black hair, and a wide smile. He wore the typical server apron, with several pins tied to his lanyard. 

Naminé tried a smile, forcing herself back into the moment. “Um, hello?” She said. 

“I… I’ve noticed you’ve been here like, every day, but… would you like to order something?” The boy blurted out. “It’s just… you never do.”

Naminé’s smile became genuine. “Thank you, but I didn’t bring any money with me,” she said. 

“Oh,” said the boy. “Well enjoy your time!” He waved goodbye as he ran off to serve another customer. Against her better judgement, Naminé waved back. When she started drawing again, she found herself making a little doodle of him in the corner, with the reminder to bring money next time.

When she got back to the Mansion, Aqua was pacing in the foyer, the older woman was thinking hard. 

“Master Aqua?” Naminé started. Aqua’s head jolted up in surprise. 

“Oh Naminé! I didn’t see you come in!” Aqua turned and smiles. 

“What are you doing?” Naminé asked.

“We… it’s… I’m thinking up ways to get back Terra, mine and Ven’s friend, and pacing helps me think!” Aqua responded.

“Oh, well, I better check on Sora…” Naminé mused. She started to walk away.

Aqua called after her. “How was it out in the world?” She asked. 

“Oh, it was good, talked to one of the waiters at the café I usually sit in, he looked about my age. He asked if I was gonna order anything, but I don’t have any money so…” Naminé didn’t know what she was saying. Was she just, going to ask Aqua for money? She didn’t need it.

“Oh, why didn’t you say something!” Aqua said. “Here.” She walked up to Naminé and put some money in her hands. “Go buy yourself lunch, okay?”

“But! It’s yours!” Naminé protested. 

Aqua shrugged. “And I gave it to you, don’t worry about it, all the Heartless fighting left me with a lot.” Aqua looked down and smiled. “Plus, I like taking care of people.”

Naminé smiled back at Aqua as she entered her room in the mansion. It was still pure white, like that of the castle, the only color being her drawings on the wall. She sighed, looking at the money in her hands. 

  
  


Of course Naminé brought the money with her when she went out the next day. She was wearing her blue flowered dress with a denim jacket (it was technically Aqua’s), and was planning to actually talk to people. She smiled a little as she walked over to her normal spot and sat down, opening her sketchbook to start drawing.

When she saw the waiter from the previous day walk over she waved to him, and he waved back as he hurried to her spot.

“Oh hi! Thought I’d see you again today!” He said with a grin. “So, anything you’d like?”

“Wel… do you have any recommendations?” Naminé asked. “This is my first time getting anything here.” She also didn’t have a menu, but she didn’t tell him that.

“Oh! Okay, well, hmmm, what kind of food do you like?”

Naminé didn’t know how to answer that question, she hadn’t had many types of food besides Aqua’s baking. “Um… I like… Bread…” she mumbled. 

“Bread? Okay! So, sandwiches, maybe pasta, but I’ll stick with sandwiches.” The boy brought out a menu and pointed to where the sandwiches were. “Look here for something interesting.”

Aqua scanned the menu until something caught her eye. “I would like the egg and cheese sandwich,” she said. 

“Ah, the breakfast sandwich… it is a bit early for lunch… anyway, do you want anything to drink?” 

That was easy. “A lemonade.” Naminé smiled.

The waiter smiled back. “Great! I’ll get to it.” He wrote down her order and started to rush off.

“Um thank you…”

“Russell.” The waiter grinned, pointing to his name tag. “You wanted my name right?”

Naminé nodded. 

“Well, I’m Russel, and you are?” Russell smiled patiently.

“Naminé.”

“Pretty name! Anyway, I’ll be back soon!” Russell rushed off to the kitchen, humming a little as he walked. 

Naminé looked up at the sky and breathed in, taking into the scent of coffee and baking bread, of flowers, and of the plants, and then breathed out. She had done it, she had actually started a conversation.

Fifteen minutes later Russell came back with her food, she smiled and thanked him. The food looked amazing, but he stopped her and told her to wait a moment.

“Okay, okay, just, wait.” Russell took out a bottle cap and carefully drove a clip through it. “There!” He smiled.

“What?” Naminé asked. 

“It’s an Ellie Badge! made out of the lemonade’s bottle cap, you pin it to your jacket,” Russell explained.

“But… why?”

Russell shrugged. “Seems like you needed cheering up, and well, Ellie Badges are a great honor.” He winked. 

Naminé smiled. “Thank you,” she said. 

“No problem, now, you have to pay for your food, and I got to go to work, see you around!” Russell ran off again after she paid, waving goodbye, Naminé waved back. She looked down at the “Ellie Badge” in her hands, and pinned it to her jacket. 

  
  
  


Xion was frustrated. She had only regained use of her Keyblade a few days ago, and she still didn’t feel ready somehow. She had resorted to training in her room in the early and late hours of the day to try and make up for lost time and practice. She had to be good enough, she had to be.

Xion stopped when she heard crashing around inside her wall. She knew immediately that it wasn’t any of the others, no-one except Saïx was awake yet and she doubted it was him. Not only that, but it sounded like it came from the vents

Taking a deep breath, Xion calmed herself. “Who’s there? Are you in the vents?” She asked, despite her best efforts, her voice was still trembling.

No answer, but she heard shuffling from the same location.

“You-know, Axel says that people who spies are creeps,” she said. 

“I’m not a cre—!” A familiar sounding voice shouted. It stopped mid sentence though.

“Oh so there is someone there…” Xion mused. “Now who are you?”

More shuffling, then, the voice. “I-I promise I’m not creeping on purpose, I just need to get to another place here… I was just passing by…” the voice said. Xion realized that it sounded exactly like Roxas, but she knew it wasn’t him, it was too cheerful, could it be the lookalike?

“Hmmm, you-know you sound like Roxas,” Xion told the voice. 

“Technically he sounds like  _ me, _ ” the voice answered. “Wait… you’re going to tell them I’m here aren’t you?”

“... no…” Xion answered. “I don’t know what you’re doing, but I don’t think you know either.” Xion dismissed her keyblade.

“Well… you got me there.” There was more shuffling in the vents. “What’s your name anyway?”

“Xion, what’s yours?” Xion crossed her arms and looked away.

There was no answer for a while, then the voice spoke. “I probably shouldn’t tell you… but… I’m Ventus, call me Ven!” 

“Ven?” Xion asked. 

“It’s a nickname… do you not know what nickname is?” Ven asked. 

“Oh, Umm, no, but you don’t need to tell me, I think I’ve figured it out.” Xion looked at the ground. “I need to get going,” she murmured.

“Don’t let me keep you!” Ven said. 

Xion turned to where his voice was coming from and smiled, with a quick wave that made her feel a little stupid, she ran off, and hoped Ven wouldn’t make himself known again. She could lie to the others once, she didn’t think she could do it again.

Saïx told her her mission with his characteristic sneer, but it seemed to have gotten worse since Axel left last night. Xion hoped Axel would come back soon, he seemed to be able to stop Saïx from being to… mean, even though it never stopped Xion from knowing what he meant. She tried not to let his words get to her. 

The past few weeks were a little repetitive, Xion both hoped and feared for the day where things changed. She knew it would come soon, and she wanted to be ready. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we are! Part 2! This ride will cover the rest of the “Days” portion of the timeline, and be much more organization/sea salt trio focused. 
> 
> For this first chapter I needed to set up everything, but I promise there won’t be 5 chapters of just set-up this time. 
> 
> We aren’t going to be seeing much of Kairi, mainly because it would get very boring very quickly, she’s just looking for her boys with Della! Just know that she is doing things, and we will check up on her occasionally.
> 
> The Naminé bit is mostly filler to be honest, but I wanted to start with more... soft stuff, and besides it’s the start of some character growth for Naminé, mainly, she’s learning that talking to people is good.  
> Yes the waiter was Russell from the movie UP, but let me explain a bit more. Russell is older in this, so about 16, old enough to be working a job at a café, I mainly did this to incorporate UP into kingdom hearts, because of how the movie is set up (a very personal adventure) it wouldn’t feel right to just put KH characters into it, so the events of UP take place a few years in the past, Carl, Russell and Doug live in a small house in Twilight Town. No. Russell does not live with his parents, they’re implied to be absent in the movie anyway.
> 
> Xion has some issues, we all know this! But she’s also a very smart person, which the “movie” version of Days doesn’t show. But, in the game, she’s often making observations and coming to conclusions that end up being right. She’s one to trust her gut to, so if her gut is telling her the voice in the vents isn’t bad, she’ll trust it.
> 
> What will happen now that Ven and Xion know each other, both without context? Who knows! (I do)


	2. Passing days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Several small events can build up over time. Roxas is increasingly bored with missions, and Xion is increasing nervous.

Missions were boring, Roxas decided, especially when he was doing them alone. Going to the same 5 or so worlds was just, not his thing, especially with everything going on, he knew what he was doing was important, but he just wanted to do something that felt useful for once. 

He heard Axel was tasked with tracking down suspicious characters, and he wished he could as well. Instead, he was stuck with endless heart collection.

At least Xion was also stuck with the same mission, although she didn’t seem very bothered by it, Roxas didn’t know why she wasn’t.

At least he wasn’t in agrabah, so he wasn’t dying from the desert heat. Instead, he was in a place called  **Neverland,** which, for Roxas, was just a rocky coast, but he could see more up on the cliffs, but he wasn’t permitted to go there. He liked the rocky shore he was confined to though, the smell of the sea was calming. 

After what seemed like ages, Roxas had defeated the last of his heartless Quota and decided not to go to the clocktower immediately, instead, he stood there, listening to the waves crash against the rocks. It reminded him of something, and he wished he knew what.

He summoned a Dark Portal, checked in with Saïx, and went to the Clocktower. Axel and Xion were already there, gossiping about the lives of people from the worlds they had gone to. 

“You-know, I think it’s odd how the Candelabra and clock in the Castle of Roses never seem to get along… do you think they have a feud?” Xion asked Axel. 

“Heck if I know! But hey, it’s fun to see them argue,” Axel responded. 

“I don’t know about that…” Xion mumbled.

“Hey guys!” Roxas exclaimed, “gossiping about Beast's castle today, huh?”

Axel rolled his eyes. “Got to do something interesting, otherwise going to the same places all the time gets boring!” He shouted, “get that memorized!”

Xion giggled. “What?” Asked Axel.

“Oh it’s nothing… I hope we get to go to different worlds soon, maybe we’ll be put in a trio for recon, like last time!” Xion said.

“Yeah! Me too! Hey... did anything come from that world? The one we did recon together in,” Roxas asked.

“Nah, I asked Saïx, and he said there were too many ‘complications’ with it or whatever. I didn’t pry.” Axel shrugged. “We did kinda fuck up that mission if you think about it.”

“At least we made it out alive!” Xion pushed him a little. “You didn’t almost die to a floating head!” 

“A… what?”

“It’s not important.”

And they joked the rest of the day. When they returned to the castle, Saïx glared at them as they shouted and laughed all the way to their rooms. Roxas pretend his glare didn’t sting. 

  
  


The next day, Roxas was called over by Saïx.

“What is it?” He asked, trying to be polite. The older man towered over him frighteningly.

“You’re exploring a new world today, I hope you learned from last time what not to do,” Saïx explained. “We cannot have you blowing our cover, so remember, do not interact with people in the worlds you go to. Understand? Now go.”

“... alright.” Roxas left quickly, a little scared of Saïx’s temper. Practically running into the dark portal Saïx had opened up for him.

The Dwarven Forest was disgustingly pretty. Everywhere he looked Roxas felt like he was looking at a painting, it made his job strangely difficult, as he so often got distracted by the scenery.

It was easy not to talk to the people in the world, mainly because they didn’t seem very interesting, especially compared to the abandoned castle sitting on the hill. But he watched them anyway, some odd short men, and a couple where all that seemed to be in the area. He wanted to explore more, but he was restricted to the immediate area.

There were almost no heartless about, and the few he did find where just tiny shadows. Roxas was fine with that, although he knew Saïx would cry out about the lack of hearts for Kingdom Hearts. 

When he returned, Roxas checked in with Saïx, before going to the clocktower, like he always did. Axel showed up soon after, but there was no sign of Xion the entire day. Roads was worried, and although he couldn’t see it, he knew Axel was too. 

Xion was in the common room the next day, looking tired and weary, but alive, Roxas started to go over to her before being stopped by Saïx. “Roxas, no distractions, go to your mission,” the older man said. Roxas rolled his eyes as he stepped through the dark portal, giving Xion a small wave. 

After his mission, Roxas found Xion was at the clocktower today. “Xion!” He shouted. “Where were you yesterday?”

“Oh… I took a really long time on my mission, for some reason I was struggling a little, by the time I finished, you two had already left, so I went to my room to rest a bit.” Xion shrugged. “That’s all, sorry for worrying you.”

Roxas shook his head. “You didn’t worry me,” he lied. “What do you think made you have so much trouble?”

“I just told you I don’t know!” Xion laughed. “But… I think I might’ve pushed myself a little too hard… it’s fine though!”

“But… Why were you pushing yourself?” Roxas shook his head. “That makes no sense.”

Xion looked away, and didn’t say anything. They sat in an awkward silence for a bit before Roxas spoke again. “So, next time, we just have to wait longer?” He asked. 

“What no! Don’t get yourselves in trouble for me!” Xion shook Roxas a little. They both laughed.

“Hey you two!” Axel walked out from the stairwell. “Try not to push each other off the clocktower alright? I don’t want to have to scrape you off the ground.”

“Oh whatever!” Roxas shouted. 

  
  
  


After ice cream, Roxas went back to his room, and tried to ignore how he felt like he was being watched. He rolled over on his bed, unable to sleep but desperately wanting to. He didn’t even know if he wanted to sleep, he was starting to have strange dreams every time he tried to, dreams of another boy, this boy looked nothing like him, but, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was important. 

Xion once said she had strange dreams too, and Axel told them it was normal, but Roxas couldn’t shake the feeling it wasn’t normal, that it was, in fact, deeply abnormal.

  
  


Days passed mostly the same for Roxas, he completed his daily missions, and then went and has ice cream with Axel and Xion every day. His dreams never stopped being weird.

  
  
  
  


Riku jumped over the long arc the girl made with her keyblade, carefully positioning himself in front of her. The girl, hood down and expressionless, gracefully dashed toward him again, lunging out with her keyblade.

Even in a fight, Riku couldn’t stop thinking. Who was this girl, why did she have a keyblade, and why was she with the organization? He knew none of the answers, and found that he didn’t care what they were. This girl was clearly after him for some reason, and he needed to know why. 

Eventually, she gave the answer to him. Shouting out, she asked why he was disguised as one of them. He scoffed. He dressed like this to hide, to keep himself safe until Sora was awake, he didn’t know what he’d do after, but it didn’t matter much to him, he would probably be dead before then anyway.

He knocked over the girl with a simple strike to the pressure point on the neck. She pulled her head off the ground to look up at Riku, and her hood fell off. 

She was the spitting image of Kairi, right down to the small scars on her cheeks from when she fell over one day when they were little. Riku stared in disbelief, unable to speak, guilt building up inside him.

“Who-who are you?!” He blurted out. The girl glared at him, he saw Kairi’s eyes glare at him with hatred. 

“I should be asking you that!” The girl pointed her keyblade at him. Almost off-handedly, he noticed it was the Kingdom Key; Sora’s keyblade. 

He scoffed. “I’m nobody.” Riku shook his head. “I don’t know why you have his keyblade, or why you sided with the organization, but trust me, they’ll lead to nothing but trouble.”

The girl stared back at him, she wavered, if only a little. “I doubt you’d be much better,” she said. 

Riku laughed. “You’re right there.” He nodded to her and started to walk away. The girl didn’t move from the ground. When Riku looked at her, his stomach twisted with guilt. 

He tried not to look back.

  
  
  


Xion could hardly bear it when she got back to the castle and had to admit defeat. That the imposter had beaten her in a fight, 

that she had failed the organization. She could hardly bear Saïx, and she could hardly bear the words he had said. 

“Honestly, I don’t know why we even try to have you contribute. You never seem to be able to do things right,” Saïx told her matter-a-factly. Xion didn’t argue, why would she, she agreed with him. 

“Go to your room, your next big assignment will be soon try not to mess that one up to,” Saïx ordered. 

Xion obliged, wandering aimlessly back to her room, were she sat in her bed, looking up at the ceiling. She was a failure, they all knew it, how long could she even keep this up? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!
> 
> okay there, I’m fine, I just needed to let everything out. 
> 
> I have a problem with “middles” I don’t like story’s that are just one thing after another, and the pacing of this one would be messed up if I didn’t have stuff in between major events. For instance, I could’ve just gone right into Xion’s second big coma, but that would’ve been too sudden. My problem is that I don’t know what to do in the in between portions but I’ve been figuring it out!
> 
> Roxas is hard to write, not the hardest to write (Axel, Aqua, and the Disney characters take that cake.) but there’s a balancing act one needs to make with him. He’s not edgy, but he is angry and sometimes even selfish! He’s also not Sora or Xion, who are both very easy for me. I’m not sure if I’ll always walk that line, but I’ll try.
> 
> Oh look it Riku! He is edgy. I want to paint a downward spiral for him, like how they hinted at one in KH2, this isn’t the last time we’ll see the sad boy.
> 
> This is the first time I’ve had Riku directly mention Kairi, take with it what you will.
> 
> Here’s the first time I’ve ever actually shown Saïx being an ass! I couldn’t just keep saying “he’s awful” without showing, I can only go off fan expectations for so long. 
> 
> That’s it! Stay tuned for next time, where Xion sees some mermaids, Ven almost dies, and Saïx becomes the definition of a petty Ex-Boyfriend.


	3. Overworked, again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Xion goes on several missions to the world called neverland, the last of which ends in disaster. 
> 
> Ven continues to live in the vents.

Xion’s dreams had started bothering her ever since she lost to the pretender. She always woke up in a panic, but she never remembered what her dreams were about. She wished she did remember, maybe she could learn something about herself if she did. 

Despite her failings, Xion was still expected to do missions, which she was grateful for. What would she do without missions everyday? 

For today’s mission, Xion was sent to the world called Neverland, Roxas had mentioned it to her before, although the area she was in was not at all similar to his stories of the area. She was on a cliff overlooking a rocky beach, it was lush and vibrant, and she heard voices drifting up from the rocks. 

Xion carefully climbed down, making sure not to be seen by anyone on the beach. She would just look for some heartless and move on, she told herself. She tried her best to ignore the song like voices drifting through the wind.

Xion got a few glimpses of the people at the beach as she snuck around. They were all women, and all of them were gorgeous. Their hair shone in the sun, their voices were like songs, and she could see their jewelry twinkle in the if she tilted her head just right.

“Oh why must he go off with those boys again! He must know that they’ll only get in trouble!” One of the voices sang. The others murmured in agreement.

“Well you’re jealous!” Commented another. 

“Well of course!”

Then they all laughed, and Xion got the feeling that whatever they were talking about wasn’t really important to them. The word jealous stuck in her mind, she knew what it meant, but she always felt it was bad.

She filed away her thoughts for later, she had to keep working.

When she was fighting, Xion always found herself deep in her own thoughts. While she thought, she figured out what jealousy meant, she wondered if she was jealous of anyone. 

Roxas was the first one she thought of, but she couldn't think of anything she wanted that he had, so she wasn’t jealous.

Then… Why did she feel so sad looking at him sometimes? Why does she find it so hard to connect? Xion shook her head and went back to work. It didn’t matter anyway, Nobodies weren’t supposed to have feelings. 

When Xion finished her work she went to Twilight town. Roxas and Axel were already there and cheerily talking to one another. She pretended to be happy, when a growing feeling of dread filled her. Her ice cream didn’t taste as good as it normally did. 

Ven was very intrigued by the soap opera levels of drama that occurred in the organization’s base. From petty theft, to bitter exes, this place seemed to have it all. He was worried of course, but he felt a strange distance from most of them.

Except three of them.

Ven knew why he seemed to care more for those three than the others, past experiences and all that. He sometimes wished he didn’t care, because he would often come close to sabotaging his entire mission just to help them. 

Ven had started following Axel, Roxas, and Xion out to their spot in Twilight Town, he was just too curious, and a little worried. He never got close enough to listen in on their conversation, instead sitting at one of the benches at the bottom of the tower, making sure nothing happened. 

Ven heard about a lot of things while in the vents, and he almost never did anything, except give occasional advice to Xion, he doubted she even took it seriously. 

He knew all the inner workings of the organization, where to find who and when, who got sent out on certain types of missions and why, he even knew of some of their activities outside the castle. 

He was listening in on Saïx as he organized the organization’s paperwork and set up missions. Ven spyed on Saïx a lot, if the organization was about to do anything Ven knew it went through Saïx first and for good reason, the man was organized and efficient. Out of all of the organization, Saïx was one of the ones who scared him the most. 

Saïx was grumbling to himself. “Why are they even allowed to do this? They’re just wasting our valuable time. It’s… idiotic,” he mumbled. “What they see on each other and that town I’ll never know.”

Ven snorted, he didn’t mean to make a sound, it just came out, and he could see that Saïx heard it, the man turning to Ven’s direction.

“Is someone there? You-know spying on coworkers is generally frowned upon,” Saïx said. 

Ven took a deep breath, and stupidly decided to speak his mind. “You’re jealous of two children,” he said. 

Saïx spun around. “What?!”

“You used to be super close and friendly with Axel right? But now he’s spending more time with these two kids, and you’re jealous,” Ven repeated. 

Saïx glared in his direction, then summoned a large, spiked claymore. “Seems there’s an intruder in the building, because, from the sound of it, you’re not a member of this organization.” He twirled the claymore in his hands around effortlessly. 

Ven started to move away as fast as he could, and as quietly as he could. He heard Saïx”s deep voice boom through the building, warning the organization about an intruder, and regretted speaking his mind. 

Ven watched organization members run by, and, when the coast seemed clear, he dropped down out of the vent near the front of the castle, about to make a run for it. Unfortunately someone was there.

It was impossible to tell his age. He was tanned, with white-blonde hair that was cut short, and a beard, Ven could not remember his name. He seemed just as surprised to see Ven as Ven was to see him.

“Hmmm, I doubt it would be a good play to capture you,” the man mused, he had an accent that Ven didn’t recognize. “I think it would be best for the both of us if you just went on your way.” 

Ven nodded in agreement and ran out the door, deciding he would wait a bit before going back to the castle in the world that never was. 

Much to her dismay, Xion got sent to the same place in Neverland again. The place just made her feel weird inside, and she didn’t like how she had to sneak around to make sure she wasn’t caught. 

She was sent after a particularly strong heartless today, Saïx had told her it had been spotted around the coast and in the water, so she searched those areas.

She spotted it when it was halfway submerged in the water. It’s spines piled up through the surface and at first glance looked like ordinary rocks, but they moved. Xion took a deep breath and cast fire in its direction. 

The creature jumped back as the fire made the water around it boil. It was large and dragon-like, covered in scales that looked like rocks. 

Xion waited for it to make the next attack, ready to parry it’s every move. 

It erupted from the water and tried to bite at her. She launched herself in the air and while she was airborne, casted thunder. The monster cried out as electricity shot through its body. She landed right as the electricity subsided. 

Moving in the water was difficult but Xion made do as she and the monster continued to fight. They circled around each other trading blows and trying to evade. Xion managed to sustain a blow to the side from one of the monster's claws. As she moved this new wound made it quite difficult. 

The monster tried to swat at her with its tail kicking up huge waves in its wake. She retaliated, tossing her Keyblade straight at the Heartless’ head, and knocking it down. The monster slumped over, in a daze. 

Xion scrambled towards the Heartless, desperate to use its downtime to her advantage, but she was too late, as she got closer it started to rise up out of the water, trembling, air suddenly started to whip around violently. She dashed around the giant Heartless, blocking it’s hits with her keyblade, trying to hit it as much as she could. 

Seeing an opening, Xion raised her keyblade and shouted “Thunder!” As she cast the spell. The Heartless staggered, and then Xion felt electricity crawl up her body from her legs; the water around her had conducted the electricity of the spell. 

“Shit…” she exclaimed. Her whole body burned as tiny ripples of energy coursed through her.

She had defeated the Heartless, that’s what matters, she told herself as she crawled through her dark portal.

She collapsed soon after returning to the castle, body still burning from the electricity, she hoped everyone wouldn’t be too angry with her. 

Roxas was surprised when he didn’t see Xion as he left for his mission, usually they talked a bit before they left. When he finished his mission he went to the Clocktower like normal, and hoped she would show up there, but time passed, Axel showed up with the ice cream and idle chatter, and she still didn’t show. 

Roxas bit his lip. “Do you know where Xion is?” Roxas asked Axel. 

Axel stopped eating and paused, turning towards Roxas. “You don’t know?” He asked.

“No! I don’t! That’s why I’m asking.” Roxas waved his hands in the air. 

“Well… she was found passed out on the floor of the castle, Saïx said she probably lost to a Heartless and barely made it back. She’s been asleep ever since.” Axel looked into the sunset. 

“She… she just seems so tired all the time! Now she’s actually passed out, I’m worried she’s overworking herself,” Roxas murmured.

“Come-on, Xion’s tough, I’m sure she’ll be fine,” Axel responded. 

Roxas nodded, smiled, and got back to eating his ice cream. Watching the kids of Twilight Town play on the streets below.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this chapter is much shorter than normal, I didn’t have much in the way of ideas, next chapter will probably be much longer.
> 
> I find it important to show how Roxas and Xion gain insight into how life for “normal” people work not just from Axel, but from the citizens of the Disney worlds they go to. I wanted to have Xion pick up on some new “ideas” as she’s desperately trying to figure out how she’s feeling, while at the same time, she doesn’t think she’s feeling anything at all. 
> 
> Nobodies are weird.
> 
> The Ven scene was mostly there for humor, he’ll be back in the vents soon enough. I thought having a Ven call out Saïx would be weird untill i remembered that in BBS he literally just said whatever came to mind. 
> 
> The idea of Xion injuring herself with her own thunder spell via conduction came from a desire to make her fainting much more realistic. (That’s why both in the last chapter and in this one I mention her overworking herself.) Xion’s tough, but she isn’t immune to stupid mistakes. One could also say how it shows her self-destructive nature, and how she often lets herself be hurt for the sake of “what’s good” or “what’s right” 
> 
> See you next time, where Naminé talks about her depressing life, Xion has strange dreams, Aqua Beats up Demyx, and Riku has a bad time!


	4. The Shadow of what?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naminé finally tells Ven and Aqua a secret she’s been keeping.

Riku was hurting. He was always hurting these days, his fight against the darkness inside himself was getting harder every day. He was afraid too, afraid of what would happen to him if he one day lost the fight, and he was determined to never let it happen.

But what will he do when the others find out? He couldn’t tell them, he couldn’t imagine looking into their eyes and telling them what he could become, what he was becoming. What would they think, Riku didn’t even think he could go back to his life from before, and now he was waiting for this new normal to blow up in his face. 

In his desperation, Riku remembered he was told back when he visited  **Hollow Bastion** with Ven and Aqua, he was pulled aside and given some advice. “The eyes are windows into the heart, cover them, and you block out your heart to outside influence.”

Riku sighed, grabbed a piece of spare cloth, and pulled it over his face.

  
  
  
  


Xion was dreaming. 

She was on a beach, playing around with people she shouldn’t recognize, in a body that wasn’t hers. She was smiling, the sun was warm on her skin, it almost felt real. The beach was lush, almost overgrown, it’s rocky cliffs hiding caves and other secrets.

There were two kids in her dream, a boy and a girl, she recognized them but she didn’t know how. The boy was tall and pale, with long grey-ish hair. The girl was shorter, her red hair cut short, their smiles were different, but both so radiant. 

They played on the island all day, the girl, the boy, and whoever Xion was in this Dream. They played until day started to give way to a starry night, where they then laid down on the beach and talked about everything and nothing until they fell asleep. 

As she dreamed, Xion felt like she was looking into something intensely private, it felt like she was seeing someone’s memories, not her own.

  
  
  
  


Ven was getting ready to ask Naminé a question. He wouldn’t get any answers from DIZ, and she was his second best bet. Walking down the halls of the mansion somehow made him feel more nervous, even though Aqua was taking the time to fix it up, it still felt almost haunted, the wood creaked in the slightest breeze, it was drafty, and light didn’t seem to make it through the windows.

Walking into Naminé’s room, Ven thought about how it was so weird that, in the middle of a drafty, old mansion, there was one room that DIZ took the time to paint a stark white, and then he made that room Naminé’s.

Naminé was sitting at the table, in the center of the room, fixating on some drawing of hers. Ven cleared his throat, and she jumped a little.

“Sorry!” He said. “I didn’t mean to startle you, I just have a question, and I thought you could answer.” Ven shuffled around a bit. 

Naminé eyed Ven nervously, her blonde hair covering most of her face. She set her drawing pad down on the table and looked up at Ven expectantly. 

Ven coughed. “Well um, Nobodies are created when someone loses their heart to darkness right?”

“Yes, most of the time,” Naminé answered. 

“So did all… wait did you say ‘most of the time’?” Ven looked at Naminé curiously.

Naminé looked back down at her sketch pad. “Well, take Sora for example, he didn’t succumb to darkness, but he still lost his heart. The difference is that he took it out himself using a keyblade,” Naminé explained.

“Right, and that made Roxas,” Ven thought for a moment. “Why did he remove his own heart?” Ven played with his hands nervously, in a perfect world, he would be asking Sora this, not Naminé.

“Well, it’s complicated, but… a friend of his, named Kairi, I’m not sure if Riku or I have mentioned her before, is one of the princesses of heart. Recently they were all rounded up by a villain for reasons I assume you know. But, Kairi lost her heart when she was kidnapped by this villain, and it rested inside Sora’s, the only way for her to get her heart back, was to remove his own.” Naminé brushed some hair out of her face. “Thankfully he was restored shortly after, by Kairi of course.”

“So… Kairi lost her heart.”

“Yes.”

Ven pursed his lips. “Could’ve she created a Nobody?” Ven asked sheepishly.

Naminé looked away suddenly. “...she did,” Naminé answered. 

“Cool! So like, Kairi and her Nobody exist at the same time. I should tell Aqua!” Ven said. “She said she was interested in learning about the differences between Nobodies and their Somebodies…”

Naminé was trembling just a little, she was avoiding eye contact too. Ven suddenly felt like he was imposing on something. 

“Umm, uhh, how do I? Ven can you get Aqua for me please? I need to, tell you both something, I better tell you now rather than later,” Naminé murmured. Her voice was even trembling.

Ven shot her a concerned look. “Okay, wait here I guess.” He rushed off to find Aqua. 

It was easy to find Aqua, she was always in 1 of three places, those places being the kitchen, her room, and the library, unless of course she was doing something important. Ven found her in her room, reading a book on  **Radiant Garden** politics of all things.

Aqua spotted Ven as he walked into the doorway and smiled at him. “Hi Ven! What do you need?” She asked. 

“Umm, I was talking to Naminé about Nobodies and she suddenly wanted me to get you… so she could tell us something,” Ven explained. 

Aqua shut her book. “Well then, let’s not keep her waiting.” She briskly walked past Ven and towards Naminé’s room. Ven trailed behind her, not really sure why she suddenly got so serious. 

Naminé had not moved from her spot, although she was looking at a drawing of hers with an expression that almost reminded Ven of nostalgia. Naminé smiled up at Aqua and Ven, but the smile fell from her face.

“I’m sorry, for troubling you, it’s just… Ven was asking me about Nobodies and I… I figured I should finally, to tell you both something.” Naminé sighed. “So, I was telling Ven about Roxas and how he came to be, and he asked if one of Sora’s friends, a girl named Kairi, had also created a nobody when she lost her heart due to her kidnapping—“

Aqua cut Naminé off. “Kairi? I met a Kairi once, is she alright? What happened to her?” Aqua asked. 

Naminé’s eyes widened. “She’s… she’s fine. But, what I want to talk about is Kairi’s nobody, because, well, she does have one.” Naminé looked away. “It’s me. I am Kairi’s Nobody”

There was a pause, a moment of tense silence, then Aqua blurted out. “What?” 

“I am the shadow of Kairi.” Naminé explained. “A being created by the will of a girl who lost her heart.” Naminé looked up at Aqua, who’s expression had become hard and stern. “I-I mean she’s fine now, she’s probably still on destiny islands, and I have hardly any of her memories, but still it’s the truth. It’s just something I’ve never mentioned to you guys because, oh stars, how would I go about mentioning it and-“

“Naminé, calm down,” Aqua said. “We don’t need any more explanation from you. I’m… I’m gonna need some time to think about this though, okay? I don’t hate you, I just need to wrap my head around some things okay?”

Aqua tried to put a hand on Naminé’s shoulder, but the younger girl moved away. “Please don’t,” she mumbled. Aqua nodded confusedly.

Aqua wordlessly stood up and left, her skirt bunched up in her hands. Naminé whimpered a little but didn’t protest her leaving. “I’m sorry.” Naminé mumbled.

“Don’t be,” Ven replied. “You told the truth.”

They sat there in silence a little bit more, neither of them really knew what to say to each other. After a moment, Ven got up. “I’m gonna go check up in Aqua,” he said. Naminé simply nodded in response, her shoulders still hunched as if she was branching for something.

Ven left, and traced his route to Aqua’s room, where she was holding her keyblade, and looking at it with an odd expression. 

Aqua looked up at Ven, seemingly unsurprised that he was there, she clenched her fists around her keyblade for a moment and then dismissed it. 

“I should’ve never gotten her involved in this,” Aqua mumbled. 

“Who?” Asked Ven.

“Kairi.” Aqua looked away, but continued explaining. “Ten years ago I ran into her in Radiant Garden, and I noticed a… powerful light inside of her. So, I cast a spell that would keep her safe in a time of great need.”

“That’s great isn’t it?”

“That’s… not all I did. I’m afraid that I may have given her the ability to wield a keyblade. It’s just, she was so young, but so ready to protect the people she cared about and… I dunno. Maybe I didn’t, but, it’s remarkably easy to give someone the power to wield a keyblade.”

“Aqua… what are you talking about? Don’t you need to be a keyblade master? Which, I mean, you are one, but, there’s like a ceremony and stuff isn’t there?” Ven asked. 

“Those are just traditions, all you need is a keyblade wielder willing to pass down the ability, and for the person to make contact with the keyblade.” Aqua shook her head. “Okay, I’m done wallowing in self pity now. Sorry Ven.”

Ven laughed. “I think you deserve some wallowing after everything that’s happened.” 

Aqua ruffled his hair. “Thank you Ven,” she said. “Do you know of any other keyblade wielders I should be worried about?” 

“Nope! Unless that old wooden toy one does anything,” Ven responded. 

“Um… it might.” Aqua shrugged. “I really don’t know.” Ven rolled his eyes at her. “So just three, Sora, Kairi, and the boy Terra chose,” Aqua said. 

“The boy Terra chose?” Ven asked. 

“Oh yeah he chose to pass on the keyblade to some boy in the  **Destiny islands.** ” Aqua chewed on her thumb thinking for a moment. “Oh my stars it was Riku,” she blurted.

Ven’s eyes widened. “We… should wait to tell him that,” he murmured. Ven’s couldn’t imagine how big of a blow that news could be to Riku, he already seemed so on edge, telling news like that, even if it was good news, might not end well.

“Yeah…” Aqua agreed, clearly having something else on her mind. 

“Well.” Ven stood up. “I’m gonna go put back and train!” He waved to Aqua as he ran out the door. 

  
  
  


Aqua sighed. She had been laying in bed for a few hours, she wanted to go talk to Naminé about what she told them, but she didn’t know how to put her thoughts into words. How could she explain that she blamed herself for this? And that Naminé's status as a Nobody didn’t change anything. She knew she had to find a way to speak her thoughts, as the one emotionally available adult in the entire mansion, Aqua felt like it was necessary for her to try to communicate. 

She was an adult, she needed to be an adult.

She got up and started towards Naminé’s room, trying not to bite her fingers off from nerves. When she got there she reached up and gently knocked on the door. 

When the young girl opened the door it was obvious she had been crying, she was huddled up in her baggy dark blue sweater, eyes rubbed red. She looked shocked when she saw Aqua. 

“Mi-miss Aqua!” Naminé stammered. She wiped her eyes. 

“May I come in?” Aqua asked. Naminé nodded and led her inside. 

Aqua promptly sat down on a chair next to Naminé and said. “You’re obviously not Kairi,” she said blatantly.

“What does that… oh right. I guess since I don’t have her memories-“ Naminé mumbled. 

“Right. Anyway I’m not mad at you, never was. I’m sorry for making you cry,” Aqua continued. “And, really, nothing has changed.”

“Really?” Naminé asked. 

“Yeah.” Aqua sighed. “I certainLy have better things to do than harass you about… that.” She scratched her head.

Naminé didn’t speak, but the girl was still trembling, even biting at her lip a little. Fear radiated off her, and Aqua didn’t know what to do about it. Finally she sighed, “I should go.” She said. “Let me know if you need anything.” Then she left. 

When she walked by Riku’s door she sensed something. A small pressure just at the edges of her senses, the door to Riku’s room was left open just a tiny bit, like the boy was in a rush. 

Against her better judgement, Aqua peered through the door, and suddenly felt the Darkness radiate from the other side. Riku was in the far corner of the room, shrouded in the purple aura of darkness, he looked like he was in an intense struggle with himself. Aqua clasped a hand over her mouth to stop herself from gasping. 

Ever so slowly, the dark aura around Riku faded, and after a short while, he relaxed, fell onto his bed, and turned away. Aqua could barely see him now, but she could see he was trembling.

Aqua took a few steps back and rushed to her room. She knew Riku was hiding something, but she didn’t expect Darkness, although she realized she should’ve. Her anger and fear was mixed in with a surprising amount of sympathy, she saw how this struggle against darkness ate up Terra after all.

Still, Aqua could not bring herself to trust Riku after that, even though he saved her. She resigned herself to keep an eye on him, just in case. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t have much to say. These are things that they needed to talk about eventually. Naminé feels bad for even existing, but Ven and Aqua still don’t share the belief, she isn’t hurting anyone after all. 
> 
> I dunno if Riku ever physically struggle against the darkness in a way that could be seen, but in this fic he does. Aqua before BBS would’ve killed him, but now he reminds her a little too much of Terra for comfort 
> 
> Xion’s dreams are Sora’s memories Btw, and she’s gonna have an interesting reaction.
> 
> Next chapter, we check up with Kairi for the first time in this arc. how has she been doing?


End file.
